Our first Sport and Exercise Undergraduate Research Conference was a great success

Vice-Chancellor Professor John Coyne opened the conference, and was joined by guest speakers representing a variety of different aspects of the sports sector, providing important networking opportunities for our final year students. The conference was the perfect opportunity for our final year BA (Hons) Sport and Exercise Studies and BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science students to show all the hard work they had put into their final year independent research. Each student presented their work which provided them with vital communication skills that employers are looking for. Students were also able to learn from other's research which will help them in the future.

Guest speaker Leon Taylor, who played 7 a side football for the Great Britain Cerebral Palsy team at the Beijing Olympics, attended and gave a keynotes presentation. He was also an Olympic Torch bearer in Derby in the summer of 2012, and currently holds the Derby Sports Personality of the year award.

The conference was closed with an award giving. Eight prized were given to our students covering topics including 'best abstract' and 'best oral presentation'. Two of the winners Matt Allison and Paul Edwards, won tickets to watch a Nottingham Panthers game.